Battery Cleaning Tool

ABSTRACT

A battery cleaning tool includes a tool body having first and second ends; an elongated cleaning head extending from the first end; and a hollow head having an interior surface with cleaning particles projecting from the interior surface toward a center of the hollow head.

The present invention relates to a device for cleaning battery connection members relating to battery posts and battery cable end terminals employed on batteries for automobiles, trucks, boats, farm equipment, RV's, commercial equipment and all, and every conventional terminal battery for the past 100 plus years with hundreds of millions of these exact batteries, and hundreds of millions of these battery posts and battery cable end terminals still in circulation, and currently being manufactured to date. As of 2014 there were 260 million registered passenger vehicles in the United States.

The nature of storage batteries, with their acid electrolyte, is such that heavy-corrosion generally occurs at the terminals due to the action of the acid on the same. Verdigris and dust, dirt and other foreign matter accumulate on these connections, causing corrosion and otherwise rendering the electrical connection thus established between the battery and its current-conducting wires less effective.

A bad electrical connection is, therefore, established and maintained unless the parts or members forming the connection between the battery and current-conducting wires are maintained in clean condition. Typically car owners, battery installers, auto dealerships, auto mechanic shops, mobile tow truck battery installers resort to the use of a cloth, rag, or a brush, or prior hand held manual battery cleaning item currently in market unsuitable for the purpose, with the result that the connector members or elements are only partly cleaned and in a short time verdigris with dust and dirt accumulating again quickly builds up and the efficiency of the battery is considerably reduced. Typical procedure prior to installing a brand new battery is to clean the battery terminals from debris, film and or coating from sitting or storage time from factory to consumer allowing a clean, direct connection. Other cleaning implements heretofore used for removing the dirt and corrosive deposits on the terminal posts employed a scraping and trimming action which resulted in removal of a considerable amount of metal from the post. This undesirably reduced the post diameter so that the terminal clamps would no longer clamp same tightly without shims. This, together with the inconvenience accompanying the use of these prior cleaning tools, caused them to be often left on the bench and not used, so that the battery remained in an unclean state.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a battery cleaning tool includes a tool body having first and second ends; an elongated cleaning head extending from the first end; and a hollow head having an interior surface with cleaning particles projecting from the interior surface toward a center of the hollow head.

In another aspect, a method for cleaning a battery using cleaning tool including a tool body having first and second ends with an elongated cleaning head extending from the first end and a hollow head having an interior surface with cleaning particles projecting from the interior surface toward a center of the hollow head, the method includes providing motorized rotary forces to rotate the hollow head when positioned on a battery post; flipping the tool body; and providing motorized rotary forces to the elongated cleaning head to clean a battery component including a battery connector.

Implementations of the above aspect may include one or more of the following. Cleaning particles can be placed on the elongated head. The elongated cleaning head is rotatable, and the hollow head can be rotatable. The cleaning particles can be brushes or grits such as wire and preferably so arranged that when the hollow head of tool is rotated about its axis, the surface of the battery post which the head's embrace will be cleaned and polished. Preferably, the tool head permits quick and convenient removal and replacement of the cleaning particles.

A button can be placed on the body to allow the user to initiate rotation of one of the heads. The button can be a rocker button to turn on head rotation. One or more motors can be used to rotate one head at a time. A battery can provide power to the motor and a charger can charge the battery. The charger can be a USB charger.

Advantages of the tool may include one or more of the following. The cleaning tool for battery terminal-posts operates to efficiently remove dirt and crusted deposits without removing any substantial amount of metal of the post which would cause undesirable reduction in the post diameter. The invention also aims to provide a cleaning tool of such construction that acid conditions under which the tool is used will not necessitate frequent replacement of the tool. In addition, the level of hand injury is close to nonexistent using this tool. With the conventional hand held battery cleaners currently on the market for the past 100 years, and current models require to manually hold, and repetitively turn the tool by hand in the engine and battery compartment area causing cuts, or injury to the hands. The tool is simple in construction, inexpensive, and easily operated so as to enable the owner or user of a car to maintain the connections to the battery in clean condition, equaling or at least closely approaching that existing when a new battery and new connectors thereto are employed. The tool allows the peripheral surface of a battery post to be scraped by applying the required rotational brushing motion to the tool without wearing away any portion of the battery post and whereby the interior or contacting surface of the battery connector designed to be placed over the battery post may be scraped to free it of verdigris or other undesirable matter without cutting into and removing any portion of the battery connector. The tool can scrape the peripheral surface of the battery post and can straddle the post while scraping the same so as to prevent accidental displacement of the tool during the act of scraping the post.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary battery cleaning tool.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of another exemplary battery cleaning tool.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the tool of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows another side view of the tool of FIG. 1 illustrating control buttons on the tool.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective of the tool of FIG. 1 with a cap covering a first end.

FIG. 6 shows another perspective of the tool of FIG. 1 showing in more details the bristles on the interior of a second end.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of the tool of FIG. 5, while FIG. 8 shows a top view of the tool of FIG. 5 and FIG. 9 shows a bottom view of the tool of FIGS. 5-6 with bristles on the interior of the second end.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary circuit with motors for rotating the heads on both ends of the tool of FIG. 1.

These drawings are provided to assist in the understanding of the exemplary embodiments of the presently disclosed sports equipment handle as described in more detail below and should not be construed as unduly limiting the sports equipment handle and system. In particular, the relative spacing, positioning, sizing and dimensions of the various elements illustrated in the drawings are not drawn to scale and may have been exaggerated, reduced or otherwise modified for the purpose of improved clarity. Those of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that a range of alternative configurations have been omitted simply to improve the clarity and reduce the number of drawings.

DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a battery cleaning tool 100 includes a tool body 102 having first and second ends 104 and 106, respectively. An elongated cleaning head 110 extends from the first end 104 and a hollow head 120. Cleaning particles such as brushes 112 are positioned on the elongated head 110. The elongated cleaning head 110 is rotatable, and is preferably rotated by a motor (FIG. 10). An optional cap may be provided to protect the brushes when the tool 100 is not used.

The hollow cleaning head 120 is shaped to substantially encompass and engage a battery terminal post where the cleaning particles inside the hollow head can effect cleaning of the post upon user actuation. As shown in FIG. 7, the hollow head 120 has an interior surface 410 with cleaning particles such as tines 420 projecting from the interior surface 410 toward a center of the hollow head 120. For the purpose of cleaning the surface of the battery post without removing an excessive amount of metal there from, the head 120 is provided on an inner surface with abrasive material. This may be in the form of times 140. Other alternatives include an emery cloth or a suitable sheet abrasive material.

Buttons 130 and 132 are provided for the user to push and rotate the heads. For example, if the button 130 is pressed, the hollow head would rotate with a motor, and if the button 132 button is pressed, the elongated head would rotate through a motor. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, a rocker button 131 can select one of the heads and rotate the selected head. As shown in FIG. 10, one or more motors can be used to rotate the heads in parallel or one head at a time. A battery can be connected to the button/switch to power the motor. A charger can be used to charge the battery. For example, the charger can be a USB charger.

When using a cleaning tool of FIG. 1, as described above, the terminal posts of a battery may be quickly and conveniently cleaned. This is done by grasping the tool body 102, placing the hollow head 120 on the battery post to encircle the post, and then rotating the tool about the axis of the post preferably by a to and fro oscillating movement. While the movement can be done by hand, preferably the movement is motorized. In another embodiment, a microcontroller can be used to control the motor speed to enhance the cleaning and result in the grits of the abrasive removing any corrosion or oxidation or foreign matter on or embedded in the relatively metal post of the battery, yet the amount of metal removed there from during this operation will be substantially nil so that the diameter of the post is not reduced undesirably. Next, the tool body can be flipped to point the brushes on the elongated cleaning head to the electrical terminals on the battery cable. A user can use the brush to clean the inside of the connector terminals. Once cleaned, the battery connector can be reattached and secured on the battery post.

According to one embodiment, an abrasive medium need not be in the form of a brush, but may be provided on the inner surface of the head in the form of wire or other grits. This coating may be cleaned with a brush and soap solution when it becomes clogged, and may be readily renewed from time to time so that the heads need not be discarded after a certain period of use.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary motorized system to rotate the cleaning heads 110 and 130. The system includes motors 410 and 420 driving heads 110 and 120, respectively. The motors 410 and 420 receive power from a battery module 440 which can be a rechargeable lithium battery, among others. A microcontroller 450 controls the motor and a universal serial bus (USB) port charger 400 to charge the battery 440.

The battery module 440 provides the necessary power to operate the motors and electronic devices. The batteries provide direct current to the electronic device. The internal battery may be either disposable or rechargeable. Disposable batteries require periodic replacement. Rechargeable batteries require periodic recharging from an external power source such as another battery, alternating current source, etc. Preferably, the charger works with USB ports which are based on an industry wide standard and are commonly available. It is found virtually in all modern computers and electronic devices. The USB ports may be used to transfer data as well as to recharge the internal rechargeable batteries.

In one embodiment, LED indicators are used to show the charging modes. One LED indicator with on/off/flashing may be used to indicate the charging mode. Alternatively, two LED indicators may be used to show charging mode. A fault may be indicated when both LED indicators are flashing. Preferably three LED indicators are used to indicate each of the three charging mode. A fault may be indicated when all three LED indicators are flashing.

The switch will consider a rocker type style, On Off On system controlling each end of the tool device with a center off position. Although the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments and applications, one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of this teaching, can generate additional embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of or exceeding the scope of the claimed invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the drawings and descriptions herein are proffered by way of example to facilitate comprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope thereof.

Other changes may be resorted to without departing from my invention as defined in the claims hereof or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. 

What is claimed is:
 1. LA battery cleaning tool includes: a tool body having first and second ends; an elongated cleaning head extending from the first end; and a hollow head having an interior surface with cleaning particles projecting from the interior surface toward a center of the hollow head.
 2. The tool of claim 1, comprising cleaning particles on the elongated head.
 3. The tool of claim 1, wherein the cleaning particles comprise brushes, tines, or abrasive materials.
 4. The tool of claim 1, wherein the elongated cleaning head is rotatable.
 5. The tool of claim 1, wherein the hollow head is rotatable.
 6. The tool of claim 1, comprising a button to rotate one of the heads.
 7. The tool of claim 1, comprising a rocker button to turn on head rotation.
 8. The tool of claim 1, comprising one or more motors to rotate one head at a time.
 9. The tool of claim 1, comprising a battery coupled to the motor and a charger to charge the battery.
 10. The tool of claim 9, wherein the charger comprises a USB charger.
 11. A method for cleaning a battery using cleaning tool including a tool body having first and second ends with an elongated cleaning head extending from the first end and a hollow head having an interior surface with cleaning particles projecting from the interior surface toward a center of the hollow head, the method comprising: providing motorized rotary forces to rotate the hollow head when positioned on a battery post; and flipping the tool body; and providing motorized rotary forces to the elongated cleaning head to clean a battery component including a battery connector.
 12. The method of claim 11, comprising providing cleaning particles on the elongated head.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the cleaning particles comprise brushes.
 14. The method of claim 11, comprising rotating the elongated cleaning head using a first motor.
 15. The method of claim 14, comprising rotating the hollow head using a second motor.
 16. The method of claim 11, comprising specifying rotation of one of the heads using one or more switches.
 17. The method of claim 11, comprising providing a rocker button to turn on head rotation.
 18. The method of claim 11, comprising one or more motors to rotate one head at a time.
 19. The method of claim 11, comprising a battery coupled to the motor and a charger to charge the battery.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the charger comprises a USB charger. 